Godzilla
bless the 1970s. Bronze Age comics are so much fun, case in point the
first issue collected in this book, #142. The drama within the team
has caused them to splinter. The Thing journeys to Europe because his
girlfriend, the blind Alicia Masters, is approached out of the blue
by some mysterious doctor with the promise of an experimental surgery
to restore her sight. It results in the Thing fighting Darkoth The
Death Demon, one of those silly faux-demonic 1970s monsters that I
love so. Of course the doctor in Europe is none other than Doctor
Doom. It ends up bringing the team back together in time to fight
another monster, the Seeker. None of this makes the slightest bit of
sense, but I'll be darned if it's not the most fun that I've had in
ages.

Another
monster, Ternak of a race of snowmen in the Himalayas, occupies most
of the team for #145 and 146. 147-149 deals with the Sub-Mariner and
Medusa working to reconcile Mister Fantastic and the Invisible Girl's
marriage. In the middle of this arc the team mops up the Frightful
Four, which is cool because the last time they tangled (Vol. 13) they
made the FF look like a bunch of pikers. #150 is part two of a
crossover with Avengers
#127 featuring the return of Ultron. I have always been a sucker for
Ultron, as he was everywhere in 1984 and 1985. I am pumped about
seeing him on the big screen this spring in the second Avengers
movie.

There
are also two of Marvel's short-lived specials, Giant-Size
Super-Stars #1, which
features another Thing vs. Hulk showdown, and the retitled Giant-SizeFantastic Four
#2, which upped the page count from 48 to 64 page and a price
increase of .35 to .50. Inflation was a thing in the '70s. Comics
went from .15 in 1970 to .40 by the end of the decade. Compare it to
the 2000s, where comics went from $1.99 to $2.99 by decade's end. Of
course this decade will tell a different tale, as $3.99 seems to be
giving way to $4.99.

Medusa
of the Inhumans is an unofficial member of the team during this era,
which adds a different flavor to the proceedings since the team is
not used to working with her. The Invisible Girl will of course
resume her role in the team, but that will happen in the next volume.
These comics are a lot of fun. Plenty of action, plenty of story and
character development in each issue, solid writing and
artwork...what's not to love?

Junk
Food For Thought rating: 4.5 out of 5.

The
OCD zone-
While the character pin-ups from Giant-Size
Super-Stars
#1 are omitted because they were originally in Fantastic
Four Annual
#1 I feel that they should have been included because they updated
the list of the character's appearances. The back-up story from
Giant-SizeFantastic
Four
#2 was omitted because it was a reprint of FF #13.

Linework
and Color restoration:
Think
of the post-2007 Masterworks
as
definitive Blu-Ray editions, with painstakingly restored linework and
a color palette that is 100% faithful to the source material.

Paper
stock: Thick coated semi-glossy coated
stock that has that sweet, sweet smell that all Chinese manufactured
books have. I theorize that this delectable aroma is caused by the
toxic stew of broken asbestos tiles, lead paint chips, heavy metal
industrial waste, and mercury from recalled thermometers combined
with the blood, sweat, and tears of the Chinese children working the
sweatshop printing presses. The frosting on this delicious cake scent
is the paper which is likely sourced from virgin Amazon rainforests.

Binding:
Rounded
book casing and Smyth sewn binding allow this book to lay completely
flat in one hand as Godzilla intended.

Hardback
notes:
Faux leather grain texture with foil stamping. Dustjacket has spot
varnishing. The next step in my OCD evolution is going to be putting
Brodart sleeves on all of my dustjackets.